History of the king of sports
Bob Marley once said, “Football is freedom.”
Indeed, not like other sports such as baseball, hockey, tennis, etc. anyone can play football without equipment except for the ball. However, to understand how it can achieve the name king of sports, we need to go back time to see its history.
The first organized football match took place in British private schools during the early 1800s. ‘Houses’ (teams) competed against one another, and the players often wore top hats. Until the 1840s, colored shirts were introduced to distinguish two teams.
After that, in 1848 Cambridge rules were established with the two most crucial laws of football which are foul and foul play. Until the late 1850s, Sheffield Rules, the first football club, was started, which led to the rises of the other Football clubs. The rules of the club were the same as a mix between rugby and Football. At this time, teams’ members were supposed to wear different color hats, which was inconvenient for playing the sport.
However, only until the 1860s, football started to look like the king of sports nowadays. Still, there were different rules in different schools. And the destined day of Football, when it became the most well-known sport of all time, was 26 October 1863. On that day, the Football Association spent many hours before finally agreeing on a single set of rules for Football.
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From that moment, there has been some minor as well as significant changes in them, and people often call them as Laws of the Game. You can take a look at them as below:
Laws of the Game
Law 1
Usually, a football field should be a rectangular field, 105 m × 68 m or 7140 m2.
In the football field, there are many other objects, lines, and circles to mark different areas such as run-off area, goal area, penalty area, flag posts, goals, interchange zone, and technical area. Besides, the size of the football field can vary depending on purposes. For example, if it is intended for children under 7, a 30m x 20m field is recommended.
Law 2
Modern footballs are more complex than previous ones. Most modern footballs consist of twelve regular pentagonal and twenty regular hexagonal panels positioned in a truncated icosahedron spherical geometry. Law 2 of the game specifies that the ball is an air-filled sphere with a circumference of 68 cm –70 cm (about 27 in –28 in), 410 s –450 g (about 14 oz –16 oz), inflated to 0.6 -1.1 atmospheres “at sea level”, and covered in leather or “other suitable material”.
Law 3
Generally, every match takes place between two teams, and each team has 11 members including the goalkeeper. In youth matches, each side can have fewer than 11 members. A FIFA-sanctioned one is limited to three substitutions each game. However, most youth matches allow unlimited times.
Law 4
Shorts, jersey, shin guards, cleats and socks are required equipment in the king of sports. Besides, the socks must entirely cover the shin guards. If the referee sees a player’s equipment improper, the player shall be sent off unless it is solved.
Law 5
On the field, the referee is the authority; every word of his is law.
Law 6
The assistant referees are the referee’s helpers. Together they observe every single detail of the match and signal when there is a foul, or a ball kicked out of the field.
Law 7
A football match often lasts 90 minutes, and it may have extra time due to substitutions and injuries. The referee decides the extra time. Moreover, players may have a maximum of 15 minutes break after 45 minutes of running and kicking the ball.
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Law 8
Referees decide kickoffs randomly by coin tossing. The winning team can choose a goal and start the match with the ball. A Kick-off takes place at the beginning of each half.
Law 9
A football ball is considered out of play if it fully crosses the touchline/goal line. Additionally, when the referee pauses or stops the match suddenly, it will also be out of play. If the ball accidentally hit a goal’s frame or the referee/assistant referees and still stay within the touchline/goal line, it is in play.
Law 10
If the ball entirely crosses a goal line within a goal’s frame, then the team who made the goal will be scored. Undoubtedly, in the end, the team with more goals wins the match.
Law 11
A striker is in an offside position when he or she is in the opposing team’s half of the field and “nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.”
Law 12
Referees give a direct free kick if any player:
- Kicks, trips, strikes or attempts to kick, trip or strike an opponent
- Pushes an opponent
- Tackles an opponent
- Holds an opponent
- Handles the ball deliberately
- etc.
Besides, referees award indirect free kicks if a player commits any other offense like playing in a lousy manner.
Yellow cards are awarded as a warning to a player when he or she:
- Has unsporting behavior
- Is dissent verbally or nonverbally
- Deliberately leaves the field without any permission of the referee
- etc.
Red cards are more extreme than yellow cars, and they are used to send a player off the field when he or she:
- Conducts serious foul
- Has violent behavior
- Receives a second yellow card in a match
- etc.
Law 13
There are two types of free kicks: direct and indirect free kicks. A direct kick is shot into a goal without touching any player. On the other hand, an indirect kick must be in contact with at least one player before going into the goal.
Law 14
Referees give a penalty kick when a defender fouls a striker or does a handball. The player performing the penalty kick shall stand at the penalty spot. Besides, no one is allowed to stay in the penalty box. However, after the penalty-taker shoots the ball, they can enter it. The goalkeeper may not get out of the goal line until that either.
Law 15
Throw-in is an act of throwing the ball from the sideline in a game of football to restart play after the ball has exited the side of the field of play.
Law 16
A goal kick is a free kick performed by the defending team from within their goal area after the attackers deliver the ball over the end line outside the goal. A defender or the goalkeeper shall put the ball within 6 yards from the goal box and kick it back into the game.
Law 17
A corner kick is an act of restarting play in a football match when the ball goes out of the game over the goal line, without a goal being scored, and having last been touched by a member of the defending side. Players perform the kicks from the corners of the field, nearest to where it goes out.
